Government to continue subsidizing of gas price for poor Armenian families – minister

YEREVAN, January 30. / ARKA /. The Armenian government will continue to subsidize the price of natural gas for socially disadvantaged families, labor and social affairs minister Artem Asatryan said during a government meeting on Thursday.

From April 1, 2011 about 60 thousand poor families consuming less than 300 cubic meters of gas per month have been paying 100 drams for each cubic meter. The price for other families is 156 drams now.

On 7 July the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) allowed Armenia’s Russian-controlled national gas distribution company ArmRosGazprom (ARG) to increase the price of one cubic meter from 132 drams to 156 drams.

In 2011-2013 the cost of gas supplied to these families was 132 drams per cubic meter, 32 drams of which were subsidized by the government and now after the price rose to 156 drams per cubic meter the government will have to increase the subsidy to 56 drams, the minister said.

Prime minister Tigran Sargsyan said these families should be informed of the ongoing subsidy so that they can take advantage of it. ($1 – 409.03 drams). -0-